The Prophecy
by MidnightFeline
Summary: The leader of MountainClan has gone insane, Ginger finally meets the FireClanners, and a twist of fate is yet to come. Chapter four is up.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**xxx**

_It was no suprise that Venomstar's life would come to a terrible end, all cats knew it would happen sooner or later. Why, medicine cats had even warned the reckless young leader! Such was life in the forest, beginnings, ends, and new stories every day. But for FireClan, one particular beginning would change the forest forever..._

"Ginger..." The voice called, an eerie echo through the night peace. The she-cat froze, her claws sinking into the moist ground. Her tail swished back and forth and her amber eyes widened, "Who is there?" she asked, her ears flattened, and she prepared to meet any foe that would come from the forest. But the cat that came out of the bushes was unlike any she had ever seen, it's green eyes glowed like the forest on fire, and with each step, the winds of the coldest leaf-bare and the steam that came straight from Fireplace.

"Ginger, a fate worse then any cat can imagine is coming to the forest...you must go to the FireClan, help them..." The cat said in the same eerie voice. The young brown she-cat had heard of the clans from some of her fellow loner friends, though she had never crossed territory with any of them. She lived in the Silver Valley, just below the MountainClan territory, most loners lived there.

She looked to the cat and sighed, "The FireClan? What am I supposed to do to help the FireClan?"

"StarClan will guide your steps, young one..." The cat whispered before fading into the morning fog. Ginger jerked awake to find herself in the hedges where she had gone to sleep the night before. She blinked, the dawn light seeped through the leaves above her. She laid back as she remembered her dream.

She yawned and streched out, looking around to see if any of the other loners were about. A young cat called Frog was batting at a piece of new-prey he had killed for himself. Ginger and Frog were about the same age, and had grown up together. They had developed almost a brother and sister bond with each other.

"Hey Frog," muttered Ginger as she stood some streching steps towards her best friend. He snickered and replied, "Hey Sleepyhead," this put a smile on the tan muzzle of the brown she-cat. The loners had a pretty easy life, they lived together in small colonies that were composed of no more then four members or so. They would hunt together, and do things together, it was almost like a family. Frog, Ginger, and their friend Hawk were in the same coloney together.

Ginger then remembered her dream and sat down, running her paw across her forehead quickly. "I had a dream last night, with a StarClan cat, remember StarClan? Father taught me about them...before..." She almost choked up at the thought of her father who had been killed in a battle against WaterClan. Frog noticed this and nodded, "I know, just go on..."

"Well, the StarClan cat said I must go to the FireClan and help them," she was cut off here by Frog's _meowrr _of laughter. "You don't actually _believe _that? Come now, it was probobly only something you ate last night, perhaps a vole that didn't agree with you."

Ginger sighed, it could be that. Most loners didn't believe in StarClan anyway, so why should a cat from the celestial place come down to visit one. She chuckled, "I suppose you are right. But it was a mouse I ate last night, not a vole."


	2. Coming Storms

**Chapter One**

**Coming Storms**

**xxx**

"Good job, Stripedpaw! now attack me!" Lilactail encouraged the young apprentice. The young tabby pounced, but Lilactail dodged, making him land in the dust. He got up, rubbing the dirt out of his nose with his tan paw and spitting dust from his mouth. Stripedpaw sighed, "Ooops..." Lilactail licked the remaining sand off of Stripedpaw's nose and let out a _meowrr_ of laughter. "Be a bit faster, don't let me see what your intentions are." She instructed.

The ginger tabby shifted his weight and began to circle Lilactail. Once more he pounced, this time landing on Lilactail's back. She batted her apprentice with her paws, making sure her claws were sheathed, of course. Otherwise serious damage could come to Stripedpaw. The two wrestled on the ground, not noticing when Halfwhisker, the FireClan deputy, came up behind them.

She chuckled, "Who is attacking who?"

They stopped and Stripedpaw looked up, delight clear on his face. The light of battle, though it was just for pretend, glented in his amber colored eyes. Lilactail got up and shook dust from her lilac-gray pelt. "Stripedpaw's warrior ceremony is not too far off, he will be a wonderful warrior!" she exclaimed to Halfwhisker.

The deputy was about to reply, when from the distance came a terrible yowl of pain. Her ears pricked and her eyes widened, Lilactail sniffed the air. "MountainClan," she growled. The three raced towards the scent and the battle sounds. It was a while before they finally reached a clearing, evidence of heavy battle was scattered. Shreded fur and blood were everyplace, but what Stripedpaw noticed was some unusual drag markings and two sets of paw prints going backwards, followed by a heavy trail of blood.

"Come, follow me," meowed Halfwhisker. They didn't go far until they heard the sound of rushing water, it came from the river and waterfall that flowed off MountainClan territory. This could only mean one thing: WaterClan territory was not too far away. The waterfall flowed off the mountain, and then south to the WaterClan territory. They were just on the border as far as Halfwhisker could tell. They walked a little more and soon came upon the waterfall, the top part of it anyway.

They looked over the edge from an overhanging ledge, fog and haze came up from the bottom of the waterfall. They scampered back off, the drag marks led just into WaterClan territory, then they stopped by the river. From there, pawprints doubled back towards MountainClan territory. Lilactail tensed, Halfwhisker began leading them towards the riverside.

Stripedpaw's eyes widened as he saw a heap of black fur hooked onto a rock where the water began to get gentle, but was still not too far away from the bottom of the waterfall. Lilactail let out a choke of horror as Halfwhisker dived into the river and paddled back with the mound clenched in her teeth.

She laid it on the shore, and to everyone's horror, it was the body of their leader, Venomstar. Halfwhisker tensed, and the three began dragging it towards their territory. They smelled no WaterClan patrol, so they were safe for then. After a good deal of walking, they managed to drag the body back to camp. They laid it down, Venomstar's underside had been slit open from throat to tail. Halfwhisker pawed a bit more, reviling something terrible. The only thing left of the reckless young leader was the fur, it was as if the MountainClan cats had _skinned _him, then threw his fur off the waterfall.

"The filthy murderers!" hissed Stripedpaw, his muscles bunched as if he was going to spring.

The medicine cat, Silvereyes, hurried out of his den when he heard the commotion. He let out a choke of horror and scampered up to the pelt of Venomstar. "What happened?" he hissed to Halfwhisker.

"It was MountainClanners, they did this to Venomstar." She replied. Silvereyes shook his head, "We warned him, we told him to be careful. That cat was doomed from his wild beginning, Halfwhisker, it looks like you are our the new leader. Have Wildclaw watch the camp while we travel to the Greenstone."

xxx

"Hey, that isn't fair!" Frog meowed as Ginger stole the squirrel tail he had been chewing on. He crouched, muscles bunching up, and pounced on the golden-brown she-cat. They tangled with each other for a moment, before Frog ended up victiorious. He struted along with the tail dangling out of his mouth. Hawk was just entering the hedgeden and Frog bumped into her, dropping the tail.

Ginger immediatly snatched it up and gave a smirk to Frog, who growled. Hawk smiled, "What are you two doing?" she asked, picking herself up. She shook leaves and dirt from her calico pelt. Frog gave a mock snarl, "Ginger is attempting to steal from me." Hawk's eyes lit and she turned to Ginger with a fake scowl on her face. "Oh is she? Hmm, attempting to steal from a fellow colony cat, eh?"

Ginger decided to play along, "Please have mercy on me, O Great One!" she said with a hint of a snicker. Hawk turned to Frog, "Do you wish to spare this treacherous feline?" she asked, a smile bright on her face. Frog seemed to consider this then shook his head, "No, traitors cannot be trusted." Ginger gave a fake look of shock, and Hawk turned back to her, "Its instant death for you, Ginger!" She pounced on the brown she-cat, they played around for a bit.

Hawk ended up on top and they all began laughing. "Oh, keep your silly squirrel tail!" chuckled Ginger with not a hint of scolding in her tone. She loved her coloney-mates as if they were her very own family. She had quite forgotten the prophecy that the StarClan cat had given to her the night before.

It was lovely in the valley that day, the loners had no worries or cares. They had know idea what chaos was going on in the clans that lived in the mountainlands above them. Peace, quiet, no worries. But Ginger had no clue what would happen to her the following day...


	3. Darkest Nights

**Chapter Two**

**Darkest Nights**

**xxx**

Fatedstar's long tail swished back and forth like a whip. Her eyes were glowing with ruthlessness and bloodlust. Veil and Twostorm had just returned with news that put pure delight in the mind of the evil she-cat. Her muscles rippled through her amber colored body, and she slunk to the Lakecliff, looking out over the edge were the first waterfall spilled over. From this point of view, she could look down across the whole entire territory. The river from the lake flowed down a waterfall, then crashed into a river that ran past FireClan territory. Then down another waterfall into WaterClan territory. HazeClan territory was just beyond were the river flowed into another lake, then sheer cliffs came before the valley.

All she could see would be her kingdom before long, if her plans turned out right. She had already put an end to Venomstar, who posed as a great threat to her with his ambitions and recklessness. It was all too bad that he was her _brother_. Well, there was no time to think about what could have happened, it was time to face the future. It was time for Fatedstar to rise...

xxx

Halfwhisker pressed her nose against the Greenstone. Immediatly a flashing light surrounded her and she fell into StarClan's sacred sleep. She found herself in the Twopines, surrounded by fiery cats with frost at their paws and the wind in their voices.

"Welcome, Halfwhisker," they meowed to her, "Are you ready to recieve your nine lives?" Halfwhisker didn't dare hesitate, immediatly after they had spoken she replied, "Yes, I am ready." A chocolate colored cat walked up to her, Halfwhisker's mother, Browntail. They exchanged loving glances then Browntail set her nose to Halfwhisker's forehead. The deputy had no idea what pain was to come she screeched like the loudest nightowl, the darkest pain and fierceness swallowed her, she felt herself falling into a pit of darkness, though she was still standing.

"With this life I give you protection. Use it well as you protect your clan as a queen protects her kits." Browntail meowed. The pain soon slowed and Halfwhisker found herself back in the Twopine clearing. She felt shakey, and unsteady as though she was going to loose her footing and colapse in a heap. How could she stand to recieve all nine lives? Then a fiery ginger tabby walked out to her, she was Lightpaw, an apprentice who had been killed in a WaterClan raid.

Halfwhisker choked back her emotions as the young cat walked up to her, she was also Stripedpaw's sister. She pressed her nose up against Halfwhisker's muzzle, for she was a bit too small to reach the forehead. "With this life I give you courage. Use it well as you defend those in your care, Halfwhisker." The FireClan deputy then felt stronger then she had ever felt before, she felt as though she was racing through the forest, and fightning battles, yet again she never moved a whisker. It died down, leaving her just as shakey as ever.

Another cat, one she barely recognized, came next. It was Calmstar, the leader before Venomstar. He walked up to her, his gray coat shining brighter then day. He pressed his nose onto her forehead. "With this life I give you mentoring. Use it well as you mentor the young of your clan." Halfwhisker felt knowledge being poured into her body, full of everything she would ever need to know about the forest and all that lives within. A soft pain washed over her with it.

After she had recieved that life, another cat, Brokenstorm, padded up to her. He was a glorious ginger tabby with a pelt that shown as bright as the stars themselves. Brokenstorm was the father of Halfwhisker's kit, who sadly died from an unknown illness. She smiled at him, and he returned it with another. "With this life I give you love. Use it well as you go through life." There was no pain in the life to come, just warmpth and security. It died away all too soon.

With only five lives to go, Halfwhisker began to think she could stand it. But then the StarClan cats looked up, a darkness engulfed her and she felt as though she was being swept across many waterfalls and riding the rapids of many rivers. It felt like death itself, and then the picture of Fatedstar's amber face and green eyes flashed before her. She felt as though she was being thrown against sheer rocks.

Unfortunatly, the sleep of StarClan she had entered was interupted, she awoke to find herself by the Greenstone in Daycave. She broke down in bitter weaping, she touched her nose to the emerald colored stone, but nothing happened. She shook her head and walked out in a daze. Why could this have happened?

xxx

"Ginger, have you forgotten? Go to FireClan and help them..." Ginger awoke with a start. She had another dream with the cat in it. She shook her head, it was night, Frog and Hawk were asleep. She looked up, and crawled out of the hedgeden. It was dark with only the illumination of the moon and the stars above her glowing brightly.

"Follow, Ginger..." A voice came from no where, still in the strange mysterious tone as in her dreams. She felt drawn to it and began to follow. She continued this until she finally reached the base of the cliffs. The StarClan cat came out to her, and immediatly she asked: "What do you want me to do?"


	4. Ominous Challenges

**Chapter Three**

**Ominous Challenges**

The ruthless leader's dreams were haunted by visions of a strange brown she-cat with a look of the wildest nights on her face. Fatedstar woke up startled, she looked around, but did not get up. She blinked her tired eyes and laid back. The pine needles felt scratchy instead of soft and warm the way they were supposed to. It was just a dream, she decided. But her nightmares were more then just some fantasy that her mind had created.

She somehow managed to fall asleep again, despite the persisting nightmares and the fact that her bedding wasn't what it was supposed to be. The sun rose in the sky, casting an orange-yellow glow inside the cave-den that was carved into the mountain. She awoke, blinking several times to clear the sleep from her eyes. Deep in her mind the brown she-cat still haunted her, but not only in her sleep. Her deputy, Veil, a brown and tan tabby tom, was over near the fresh-kill pile.

Fatedstar pushed herself up from her den and crawled out of the small cave. Sunlight hit her with terrible force, making her amber fur glint in a sinister way. She made her way over to the fresh-kill pile and took a plump mountain hare from it. She gazed at Veil, her green eyes glowing darkly. She brushed up against his side, and she felt him shiver with perhaps terror.

Everyone was afraid of Fatedstar, Veil, Twostorm, Halfstep, and all the rest of the clan cats. She was a ruthless she-cat who would stop at nothing to achieve her ambition: to rule the entire territory as her kingdom. The medicine cat, Dreamspeaker, said that she had a prophecy from birth that she would rule all the clans. But sometimes she wondered if the old tom had just said that to gain favor with her. She turned to Veil and smiled wickedly.

"Good morning, Veil," she said with a grin that would freeze fire. "What have you been doing?"

He heistated just a tad, "Nothing, Fatedstar."

Her eyes widened just a tad, almost as if in amusement. He had hesitated--why? Was the tabby deputy hiding something for her? There was a terrible penalty for traitors to MountainClan. She would consult Dreamspeaker, the elderly tom always knew when a cat was plotting something against her. She took huge chunks off the rabbit and chewed thoughtfully.

After she had finished her meal she padded over to Dreamspeaker's den. The black and white tom was sleeping on the moss bed in the corner. The den was made of pine branches woven together. She walked over to his side and pressed down hard on his twitching tail. The old tom woke with a start, his eyes fogged with sleep. Groggily, he looked up to her and hissed, "What do you want?"

Fatedstar glared at him and he shrunk down a tad. "Dreamspeaker, I want to know if Veil is disloyal to MountainClan. He has shown signs of treachory, and I want to be sure. Is he disloyal or not?" Her eyes showed that she wanted the answer to be yes, just because she enjoyed killing.

He didn't dare tell her no, even though he knew that Veil was perfectly loyal. Dreamspeaker took a deep breath, he hated to be responsable for the death of a loyal clan-mate, but he didn't want to loose his own life. "Yes, Fatedstar, he is a most disloyal cat and a threat to your powerful reign that has been prophecied from the times before you were born."

Fatedstar's green eyes were the very picture of delight. Without so much as a thank you, she strutted out of the den, itching to give death sentence to her un-loyal deputy. Halfstep was quite loyal, and he would be perfect as the deputy of MountainClan. Veil was still eating when she came over to him. She motioned for him to come with her, so he followed.

She climbed upon the Greatstone and adressed her clan, "All cats of MountainClan, there is a treacherous cat in our midst," she hissed.

Cats began to gather beneath the enormous rock, muttering and whispering suspicions and comments amoungst themselves. In a flash, Fatedstar pushed Veil to his belly. She set her paws hard on his back and dug in her stone reinforced claws into his flesh. He yowled in pain and terror, not knowing what was going on.

"Dreamspeaker has told me that Veil is disloyal to MountainClan. For this crime, he is hereby sentenced to death." Fatedstar yowled, almost triumphantly.

She dragged Veil off the Greatstone and towards the edge of the lake-basin, on the ledge above the first waterfall. Haze and fog rose to the gathered cats as Veil was pushed quite near to the edge. He turned around, and looked at Fatedstar with his blue eyes wide. He was breathing so hard that all the silent felines could hear it. "I didn't do anything..." he rasped.

But it was too late to defend himself. Fatedstar walked up to him and laid a single paw on his side. With a smirk, she pushed hard on him and he tumbled off the cliff edge. But somehow he managed to catch himself on the ledge, and was hanging with just his clawhold. Fatedstar growled and sunk her claws into his paws, forcing him to let go. He fell backwards into the enormous waterfall.

Fatedstar was on her way to rulership...


	5. Greater Prophecies

**Chapter Four**

**Greater Prophecies**

Ginger had finished climbing the cliffs right as dawn broke. The light flooded everything, and she smelled strange cats. HazeClan scent, she supposed, from other loners she had heard that they lived around those parts. Her ears pricked as she caught the sound of silent sobbing coming from near a large gaping hole that seemed to go down inside the cliffrange. She was about ten fox-length away from a lake, from beyond she could see the most enormous mountain.

She went to investigate the sobbing, perhaps it was another loner who had gotten trapped up on the cliff range and didn't know how to get down, maybe a young kitten. But who she found was not a young cat, nor a loner. It was a pale tabby she-cat with a small black colored tom, who appeared to have silver colored eyes. At first she hesitated going to him, but a voice in the back of her head told her to go on. She stopped just a tails length away, but neither seemed to notice her.

_Odd_. she thought to herself. She was just a few pawsteps away, but they seemed preoccupied. The she-cat was weeping bitterly, and the tom seemed to be trying to comfort her. Ginger decided she would draw attention to herself. She walked up, muscles rippling in her brown coat. "Excuse me," she meowed.

The silver-eyed tom looked up, "What do you want, are you of HazeClan? Tell them that we are not on their territory, we are by the Greenstone, which every new leader has right to visit for their lives..."

Somehow this started the she-cat's yowling even more, she looked up at Ginger, "I didn't-- they didn't-- let me recieve all of my nine lives!"

Ginger was shocked, "I'm not a HazeClan cat, and what do you mean by lives?"

"Loner." Growled Silvereyes to himself. Halfwhisker continued to cry like a kit without it's mother.

She decided there wasn't anything she could do for the two, so she started to walk away from them. When suddenly, Silvereyes jumped up and muttered something, "She-cat -- prophecies --- come..." was all Ginger could make out of it. Suddenly, he jumped in front of her, blocking her path. "Wait, loner. Why are you here?" he asked her.

Ginger was suprised and backed up a tad, claws extended as if she were expecting an attack from the black colored tom. She looked around, no other cat was there to protect her, so she decieded it was better to answer then to risk starting a fight. But Silvereyes had no intention of fighting Ginger at all. She looked at him with fire in her eyes, "StarClan sent me..."

xxx

Fatedstar never chose a new deputy that night, no, it was too risky, that cat may turn on her. She was going insane, yes, that was what it was. Paranoid with everything, untrusting... an overall the most dangerous cat in the entire lands. Her amber fur glowed in the sunhigh light as she laid out on a stone near the cave-dens. Her mind was racing with all the things of the dark.

But one thing plagued her: the visions of a brown she-cat. Recently, her dreams always ended up with her about ready to get killed by the claws of the cat, but woke up before. With a look of insanity in her flashing green eyes she leaped up to the Greatstone to address her clan, "All cats old enough to catch their own prey, come!" she yowled.

As cats began to gather beneath the enormous stone, Fatedstar began to speak, "You all must keep watch for a brown she-cat whose sent is not ours, if you find this cat, kill her, immediatly." She jumped down leaving a bunch of puzzled cats at the base of the stone. The crowd soon began breaking up after a while, but Dreamspeaker stayed, a bewildered look on his face.

The mad she-cat padded up to him, she could see the danger in her eyes and decided that it was best to keep calm. Her whiskers twitched and she sat down, "Dreamspeaker, I have had dreams about this brown she-cat, have you recieved any visions or omens that may tell me what it means?" she asked.

Dreamspeaker hadn't, but again he decieded to lie for his own safety, "Yes, indeed I have, Fatedstar, but I have yet to find out what they mean."

She knocked him to his back and put a paw on his chest, and leaned down so her whiskers were touching his. He felt her hot breath on her face as she hissed, "You'd better."

xxx

This chapter is very short and not well written, but it was done in a hurry. Enjoy anyhow.


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